defence, free-will

   The free-will defence is a response to the problem of evil, originally due to Augustine, that appeals to the free will (understood according to libertarianism) of God's creatures. Alvin Plantinga developed a rigorous version of the free-will defence by using the modal logic of possible worlds. He argues that it is for all we know true that, while God could have created a world without evil and suffering, in all possible worlds with free agents some of those agents will freely commit evil acts. Hence, insofar as God desires to create a world where creatures possess freedom, it was not possible to do so without a limited amount of evil. While the free-will defence gives a possible explanation of the existence of moral evil, it has more difficulty explaining natural evil the evil that arises from natural events like tornadoes and earthquakes. In a controversial move, Plantinga extends the free-will defence to cover natural evil by arguing that such events might be the result of the free acts of demonic agencies.

   See defence, greater-good; evil, problem of; theodicy

   Further reading: Augustine 1990-; Berthold 2004; Plantinga 1974a and 1974b